And We All Fall Down
by KaseyAnn
Summary: "Where is he," she whispers. Her heart clenches painfully, and she pulls up her knees, putting her hands over her ears too late. "He's gone. The Capitol took him." Peeta is saved and Gale is taken. AU Mockingjay in three parts.
1. Chapter 1

**And We All Fall Down**

* * *

_"And we stand, on shaken ground. _

_The earth moves beneath my feet. _

_And I shout, 'Forgive me.'" _

_~The Swarm, You Me At Six. _

* * *

Katniss sends that one arrow with wire flying towards the flaw in the forcefield, and she sees the tree flash with white-hot electricity before everything explodes into bits of earth and plants and _fire._ She's knocked from her feet, her body lurching backwards and splaying on the dirt.

"Peeta," she croaks, fighting to keep her head up. How will she find him in all of this fire and debris? The wound in her arm keeps stinging and spewing blood, and she sees a metal claw come down and lift her up before catching a glimpse of Plutarch Heavensbee, manning the hovercraft. She struggles and then realizes it's useless. A few moments later, she passes out.

Everything is black until she wakes up in an entirely too bright room, squinting against the clean, sanitary white lights above her head. With a shock, she realizes she's on a padded table, and jerks her head to her right to see Peeta on another table next to her, and Finnick to her left. _They've got me, _she thinks, panicked. She tries to sit up, her stomach dropping when she realizes she can't. _Snow's got me and he's going to torture me and I couldn't save Peeta and- _

She screams and slams her head back against the bed, hoping she can knock herself unconscious. She hears someone with heavy feet walk into the room.

"Calm down, sweetheart."

Out of all of the people she'd expect to respond to her screams in the Capitol, Haymitch is not one of them. He walks over and presses a button on the side of the table, pulling her up into a sitting position. The restraints on her are removed, and her head clearing just enough from her self-inflicted hit to ask him what the hell is happening.

"I'm going to tell you a long story, alright? No questions 'til I'm done," Haymitch replies, and launches into a complicated tale of how there has been a plan from the moment the Quell was announced to break out all of the tributes. Many of the victors had varying amounts of knowledge about the plan. The bread that Finnick and Johanna obsessively counted served as clues to the rescue, Plutarch is a part of an undercover rebel group, and this hovercraft belongs to District 13.

"And you didn't tell me," Katniss says foggily, "Or Peeta." She's been just a piece in their plan all along.

"We couldn't risk it," Haymitch replies. "You're the Mockingjay, Katniss."

Katniss doesn't want to hear any more.

"Is he alright?" she asks, getting up shakily and hobbling over to Peeta. His chest is rising and falling steadily.

"We just gave him pain medicine. He got hit pretty bad in the back during the escape. Fixed him up with a minor surgery," Haymitch says.

Katniss sweeps the room with her eyes. Beetee is hooked up to a mob of machines in another part of the room, and there's Peeta in front of her, and Finnick..

"They took someone, didn't they? Who did they take?" she says.

"Johanna and Enobaria. Annie as well," Haymitch says, his eyes straying to Finnick.

Annie. The jabberjays.

"He already knows?"

"We had to sedate him."

Katniss can sense that he's holding something back, but there's still drugs coursing through her veins and she can't pinpoint what exactly it is.

* * *

Peeta wakes a few hours later, followed by Finnick, who only gets up to knock himself out again.

"Six hours until District 13," Haymitch says, taking a sip from a bottle in his hand.

Something suddenly occurs to Katniss.

"Are Prim and my mother still in 12?" she asks with a jolt. Blonde hair and blue eyes fill her vision. How could she have forgotten?

"No," Haymitch says casually.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Katniss says, her blood going cold.

Haymitch shifts.

"Katniss," he begins, and she is immediately put off by the way he uses her first name. She backs into her seat, as if to squirm away from the words that are coming her way.

"There is no District 12."

"What do you mean?" Peeta asks from beside her, his voice hard.

"Planes were sent in after the Games," Haymitch replies tersely, looking straight at them.

Katniss imagines firebombs falling down on the Seam and her heart rate spikes.

"Where's Prim?" she asks desperately, deathly afraid of the answer.

"District 13."

"Mother?"

"Same."

"And everyone else?" Peeta presses.

Haymitch's expression hardens. "Those who made it out are in District 13. Your family's part of them," Haymitch says, seeing Peeta open his mouth again. "About ten percent of the population."

"Who evacuated them? District 13? Why didn't they take everyone?" Peeta continues, his voice reflecting the fear that's building up in Katniss's stomach.

Haymitch drops his gaze.

"Gale."

Katniss goes rigid.

"Where is he?" she whispers. Her heart clenches painfully, and she pulls up her knees, putting her hands over her ears too late.

"He's gone. The Capitol took him."

* * *

Katniss doesn't acknowledge anyone or anything, only talking to Peeta once or twice the rest of the way to District 13.

She thinks of the jabberjays echoing Gale's screams and pales when she thinks about what the Capitol could be doing to him. The beloved cousin who was whipped for killing a turkey. His back hadn't even fully healed yet. She imagines them scratching open the wounds and curls into herself, staring out a window. Food is forced down her throat but other than that she's left in peace.

She's also acutely aware of the districtful of blood on her hands.

* * *

As soon as the hovercraft has landed in District 13, Katniss, Peeta, and a slightly calmer Finnick all wobble unsteadily out of the vehicle and underground, travelling through a dark, metallic staircase lit up with an artificial yellow glow. At the end of the staircase lies District 13, an efficient, maybe even overly so, and organized place, entirely beneath the earth. Katniss hates it already.

She, Peeta, and Finnick are all ushered directly to the hospital for secondary check-ups.

"They'll keep you here overnight," Haymitch says. "It's protocol."

"I want to see Prim," Katniss demands, eyeing the doctors around her. She can't trust them. She can't be expected to, not after coming out of the Arena like this.

When all three of them thrash and scream, resisting the doctors and their blank faces, they're injected with sedatives and are detained for an extra five days (Peeta), a week (Katniss), and three weeks (Finnick).

All of them have bracelets slapped onto their wrists, declaring them mentally unstable.

* * *

On her second day in District 13, Katniss realizes that one of the nurses that had been trying to control her was her own mother.

Prim is brought down to the hospital for a visit, and Katniss nearly starts crying at the sight of her little duck, a good three inches taller and her face a little more stern. She hugs her close and mumbles to her, talking nonsense for nearly an hour before Prim has to go back up for lunch.

(Everything here is carefully regulated. Prim explains the schedule on her arm, printed in purple ink, and how everyone has set times for everything, including meals and exercise and bathing.)

Katniss, Peeta, and Finnick are given bowls of clear broth with minute servings of meat, because their weak stomachs still can't hold down food well.

Peeta's whole family comes down to visit after lunch, and they circle his hospital bed, talking and smiling for his sake. But eventually, they leave, too, because someone has kitchen duty and someone else has downtime, and they scatter, leaving the room quiet again for all but a few minutes before Finnick screams in his sleep, prompting the nurses to go over and tend to him.

* * *

Katniss is released two days early because of 'signs of rapid recovery', even though she has no idea what she's supposedly recovering from, and doesn't feel any different from before.

The boy with the snares haunts her dreams, bloodstained and screaming, screaming, screaming, and although there's less thrashing now, the nightmares don't go away. She expects they probably never will.

She's moved up to her mother and Prim's compartment (307), and she's now required to have her own purple schedule printed on her arm. So she sticks the underside of her forearm under the little machine every morning, but never so much as glances at the numbers and words, only showing up for meals.

For a while, Peeta hangs around the kitchen, making whatever he can out of the limited rations as a strange sort of therapy, and Katniss can only wander around 13.

* * *

She and Peeta are called into the Command Room, where President Alma Coin and her team of advisers meet and discuss issues.

In a nearly emotionless voice, she asks if Peeta and her are recovering well, and drops not-so-subtle hints that she wants them to start working on whatever she has in mind for the rebellion as soon as possible.

Of course.

That is why they saved Katniss, isn't it?

So she can be another piece, another pawn, another face; but this time in an entirely different game.

"Sweetheart!" Haymitch calls when Katniss and Peeta are halfway out the door, shoulders touching.

Katniss turns and looks at him coldly.

He drops a pearl and necklace into her hands, the locket attached to the chain in the shape of a mockingjay.

"They found this on you when you were lifted out of the Arena."

She doesn't look back at him and silently starts walking again with Peeta. After rolling the pearl in between her index and forefinger, she opens the small latch on the locket and three pictures fall out into her hands. Prim, her mother, and _Gale._

Her eyes linger on his smiling face.

"How did you get him to do that?" she asks suddenly.

"Do what?" Peeta says, looking into her palm.

"Smile. He's actually smiling."

Peeta shrugs, looking up into her eyes.

"I told him to do for you."

* * *

A nearly invisible hovercraft takes them to the ruins of District 12 the next day.

Once they are armed with communication devices and trackers, Katniss and Peeta are let down a ladder and onto the ashen ground of their district, Haymitch watching them from above.

"Fifteen minutes, kids," he says, and their earpieces crackle with the noise.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Peeta asks gently, watching Katniss look towards where the Seam used to be.

She shakes her head no.

They split ways, Katniss making a beeline for her old home and Peeta walking towards the town's remains.

There's nothing much to do but to stare at the rubble and to toe the ash. She walks past gray-colored human skulls as she makes her next stop at Gale's home, and avoids looking anywhere but straight ahead of her.

_My fault, _she thinks. _All these people, because of one arrow and a bit of wire. _

She bends down by the stumpy remains of his house, which she only located because the way there is ingrained in her head, not because there's much to visually recognize. She lingers there, staring at the ash, as if Gale will somehow materialize in front of her.

* * *

She goes back for Peeta before she enters her home in the Victor's Village, because the way it stands tall and untouched above the rest of the district unnerves her, just like Snow wanted.

They enter the home together, Peeta's loud steps filling the eerily empty space with noise.

Drifting through the house, Katniss picks up little things as she goes along. A ribbon lying on the floor, her hunting bag, a picture of her parents, the plant book.

"Just a minute left, kiddos," Haymitch says, startling them both.

"There's one more thing I need from my room. I'll be back in a second," Katniss says to Peeta. She takes off towards the stairs, running up them and down the hall, turning into her bedroom. She flings open the closet and files through the few clothes hanging in there until she comes across her hunting jacket. She removes it from the hanger and slips it on, the familiar warm leather calming her, but over all these years the jacket has associated itself with her father, the woods, and _Gale, _and she quickly shrugs off the jacket, closing her eyes against the pictures burning on her eyelids when she hears a soft hiss.

Her senses on edge, she whirls around, coming face-to-face with the world's ugliest cat.

"You worthless thing," she mutters, saying something about Prim that causes Buttercup to falter, and she unceremoniously dumps him into her back, ignoring his protests. "You survived, did't you?"

As she's leaving she picks up the slightest air of rose, and she feels her heart speed up when she spots a snow-white variety of the flower on her dresser, as if it had been tossed there carelessly.

"Come on, sweetheart," Haymitch says in her ear, and Peeta calls her from downstairs.

She turns and runs.

* * *

Buttercup leaps out of the game bag as soon as Katniss has stepped inside of her compartment, and thankfully, neither Prim or her mother ask any questions about the trip. They've seen the ashes, haven't they? There's nothing to ask.

Prim and Buttercup share a tearful reunion, the ribbon Katniss retrieved going around the cat's neck. Her mother takes the plant book and picture, hugging them to herself and arranging them carefully on the small dresser in their room.

* * *

Katniss takes in a deep breath before forcing her shaking hands to knock on the compartment's door.

"Come in," a distracted reply comes, and Katniss pushes open the door.

Rory's cheeks are flushed, yelling at Posy and Vick who are attacking him with drawers full of gray clothes. Posy squeals while she weakly flings shirts and pants at him, laughing each time he shoots her a death stare, and Vick is full-on assaulting him, packing the clothes tightly and chucking them.

All the activity stops, though, as soon as they catch sight of Katniss. Katniss can't blame them. Even though they'd never, ever blame her for Gale, they're afraid of her, aren't they? After all, she's supposed to be mentally unstable.

Vick plops down on the bed, looking at his toes while Rory suddenly becomes interested in organizing the dresser top. Posy's the only one who runs up to Katniss, hugging her around the knees.

"Did you find Gale yet, Katniss?" she asks sweetly. Katniss takes in a sharp breath.

"Not yet, Posy," Katniss tells the little girl, stooping down to her level. "We're still looking."

_Lies. _

No one's looking for Gale. Katniss wishes she wishes she wishes she could and she would escape the district and walk all the way to the Capitol if she were able to.

"Okay," Posy says simply, evidently satisfied by the answer. Katniss turns to Hazelle.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, because what else can she say?

Katniss turns to leave but Hazelle gently pulls her into a hug, and for a few moments they cling together.

* * *

_I should be in his place. I should be there, they should be torturing me. _

* * *

"What are we going to do?"

They are sitting in a school supply closet, their backs against boxes of notebooks, shoulders touching and hands clasped. Another meeting discussing Katniss and the role she's yet to fill; another reluctant response from her.

Peeta turns to look at her. His blue eyes catch the dim light, making them glow electrically.

"I'll be by you no matter what you do, Katniss. That's what you and I do, right? Watch over each other."

"You're too good for me, Peeta," Katniss says softly, because somehow that's what she needed, the reassurance that someone would be there to support her. She leans in and kisses him on the cheek, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"I guess you've made up your mind, then?" he says quietly.

Katniss pulls back slightly, nodding.

"I'm going to be the Mockingjay."

* * *

Katniss is just about to go to _22:00 - Bathing_, when Peeta knocks frantically at their compartment's door, his face slightly flushed as if he'd been running.

"What's wrong?" Katniss says.

"You need to come to Command right now," he replies. Katniss stays frozen for a second longer before Peeta reaches out to touch her arm, and she jolts forward, following him through the many halls and staircases that lead to Command.

Peeta opens the door for her and she steps inside to see everyone else - Haymitch, Coin, Plutarch, Coins lackey, Boggs, among others- gathered around a small television. Everyone glances at Katniss and separates slightly, allowing her to make her way to the front.

She gasps sharply when she sees who's on the screen.

_Gale._

She rushes forward, gingerly laying a hand on the television and scanning Gale for any obvious signs of torture. She doesn't find any, though, seeing that he's completely healthy, no bruises marring his face and no cuts. She drinks in his appearance, gray eyes and dark hair and olive skin, and only backs away slightly when she hears someone else start talking.

Katniss realizes belatedly that Caesar Flickerman's sitting across from him.

"Hello Gale," Caesar says warmly, showing no signs of discomfort. "Welcome back."

"Thanks," Gale says, composed and serious, no sarcasm lacing his words.

"I must confess, I didn't count on doing another interview with you after the Quarter Quell, when your cousin and Peeta made it to the final eight."

"I didn't count on my district getting bombed, either, Caesar," Gale says coolly, and Caesar shifts in his seat.

"So, about that last day in the Arena, when your cousin-"

"She's not my cousin."

"-blew out the forcefield. Do you know if she was involved in the rebel's plans from early on?"

Gale leans forward.

"You tell me what you think, Caesar," he says.

Caesar fidgets.

"Well, from the footage, I'd say she had a pretty good understanding of what she did."

"I think that Katniss was just trying to save herself and Peeta," Gale says easily. "She loves him. She did whatever it took."

_Hs's still trying to cover for me, _Katniss thinks_. The idiot. _

"Yes, but-"

"She was just trying to win your Games."

Katniss takes in a slow breath.

"Are you sure she didn't mention anything about a rebellion to you?"

"I'm pretty sure," Gale says, his words now dripping with sarcasm. _Snow probably doesn't appreciate sarcasm, _Katniss thinks. "Honestly, do you think she wanted Johanna to nearly kill her? To trigger our district's bombing?" His voice rises until he's yelling. "No! She didn't! You told her to go in and fight to the death, and she was doing that! She was playing _your_ game, and trying to keep Peeta alive while at it!"

"I believe you," Caesar says, sounding slightly frazzled. "Since we're running out of time, I'll leave you with just one last question. Is there anything you'd like to say to Katniss?"

"If- if what they're telling me is true, Catnip," Gale begins, looking directly at the camera, and Katniss feels like she's been punched in the gut upon hearing the nickname. He inhales sharply. "You have to-" he falters, and his next words come out in a rushed jumble,"You have to go ahead with the rebellion. You have to be what they need, Katniss. We-"

The video feed goes out, but there's a slight delay in turning off the audio, and Katniss makes a choked noise when she hears the sound of a fist meeting bone.

* * *

_You have to be what they need, Katniss._

* * *

"I'll be your mockingjay," she announces at the next Command meeting. Peeta is sitting right next to her, and his presence helps her focus.

No one looks too surprised, but they all laugh and slap each other on the back, looking relieved. They knew she'd give in sooner or later.

"Excellent," Coin says, impassive as ever.

"But I have some conditions." Katniss unfolds the small square of papers in her hands, smoothing it out as best as she can. Peeta helped her write the list while sitting in the supply closet and skipping a history course the day before, taking her ideas and rewording and ordering them.

Coin's eyebrow twitches the slighest bit, and she says, "Go on."

"My family will be allowed to keep its cat."

Peeta had brought this point up, saying that pets probably aren't a common concept in 13. Katniss included it for Prim's sake.

This sparks a small debate, with the District 13 advisers stressing the difficulties, and the Capitol rebels scoffing at them, wondering what the big deal is.

Coin looks mildly annoyed when she says with a wave of her hand, "They can keep their cat. You'll be moved to a compartment with a small window, and he will be expected to feed himself. If he causes any problems, he will be shot. Understood?"

Katniss nods.

"I'd like to hunt in the woods. It doesn't have to be often, but fresh air'll help me recover faster. I can't be underground all of the time," Katniss says, using the argument Peeta presented.

Plutarch opens his mouth, saying something about extra risks, but Coins cuts him off.

"That'll be fine, as long as Peeta accompanies you, and you will wear tracking anklets with a two-mile radius. Anything else?"

"I'll need Peeta to do this with me," Katniss says.

"Good, good," Plutarch replies, putting his hands together. "We'll easily work in the lover's act. It gives us an advantage, actually, doesn't it?" There are mumbles of agreement, but Katniss's face burns when he says 'act'. True, Katniss still doesn't know for sure where her feelings for Peeta lie, but 'act' makes it sound like every damn thing was fake.

Katniss opens her mouth, but Peeta lays a hand on her shoulder, and she bites back the objections on her tongue. After a few heartbeats, she announces her next condition, letting her anger propel her into it.

"Gale will be pardoned when the war is over, if we win. And the same goes for Johanna, Annie, and Enobaria."

She is met by dead silence, and Peeta immediately moves closer to her, one of the strange instincts implanted by the Games.

"We had no association with their captures whatsoever," Coin says coolly. "They will be tried as war criminals, and dealt with accordingly."

_War criminals. _

Katniss's cheeks burn.

"It's not Johanna, Annie, and Enobaria's fault that you let the Capitol take them. You will take full responsibility for their well-being, and you will pledge this publicly," Katniss says in a cold, firm voice.

Coin considers her words for a few moments. "I can do that, Katniss, but I think you know yourself that we couldn't have done anything to help Gale, although I'll be able to issue a pardon for the other three," she says, without a hint of an apology in her voice.

"Then you'll find yourself another Mockingjay!" Katniss says loudly, slamming her hand down on the table in front of her. The sound startles everyone.

"That's her," a woman named Fulvia breathes out, "A bit of smoke in the background and ash on her, can't you see it?" She's quickly shushed by Plutarch.

Coin's eyes narrow. Katniss holds her gaze.

"I'll make the announcement."

"Today."

"During Reflection."

Katniss tries not to show her relief on her face.

"Anything else?" Coin asks. Katniss pauses for a moment.

"I kill Snow."

The president actually smiles at that.

"When the time comes, I'll flip you for it."

* * *

Her first little trip as the Mockingjay is following Plutarch and Fulvia through District 13 with Peeta, for a 'surprise'.

They are lead through several different hallways, up a few flights of stairs, until finally they reach an elevator that can only be accessed by the key card around Plutarch's neck.

"Room 3908," he says cheerfully once the door open, looking at the marked compartments on his right. Katniss turns to look at the left.

_3898, 3900, 3902, 3904, 3906... 3908. _

A guard approaches them, stopping them in their tracks.

"I'm afraid you'll have to leave," he says. "I think you've got the wrong floor, sir."

"Really?" Plutarch asks, glancing around, and then frowning at the paper in his hands. "I've got 3908 right here."

"You can address assignment discrepancies at the Head Office," the guard replies.

Katniss hears a tiny whimper come from behind the door, all too human and familiar.

Before the guard can stop her, she darts to the door and swings it open, hearing Peeta struggling with the guard behind her.

She finds her prep half-naked, bruised, and shackled to the wall.

* * *

Bread. They were treated like that over some damned bread.

* * *

_This must be the right choice if Cinna wanted me to make it, _Katniss thinks, fingering the cover of the leather-bound sketch book in front of her. Presented to her by Plutarch few minutes ago, it contains sketches of her Mockingjay costume, careful designing cleverly concealing weapons and swooping curves and little details that can only be his.

She feels tears prick at her eyes when she comes to the last page in the book, and a hand-written note from Cinna is there.

_I'm still betting on you. _

"We'll be making propos," Plutarch says quietly once Katniss has closed the sketchbook. "Propaganda videos featuring you and Peeta that we'll broadcast all across Panem."

"How?" Peeta asks from beside Katniss. "The Capitol has control of the broadcasts."

Plutarch almost smiles. "Beetee essentially redesigned the underground network about ten years ago. He knows how it works, and he thinks he can get through and air our video. We'll be starting tomorrow."

* * *

During the hour usually assigned for training, Katniss and Peeta have their allotted hunting time. Tracking anklets are strapped onto them and someone explains how to use it; Katniss mostly nodding every now and then and Peeta paying rapt attention. Katniss is given a simple bow and arrows set and they're off through the heavily guarded doors.

For the first fifteen minutes, Katniss tries to tolerate Peeta's crashing steps behind her, wincing every time a twig snaps, but keeping her mouth shut. After that, though, she asks him if he would mind just sitting and watching, or going in another direction, and Peeta smiles sheepishly, pointing at a asprawling tree and saying he'll be under there.

Katniss slips back into her hunting stride, moving swiftly in and out of the trees. Something flits in her periphery and she automatically shoots. Walking over, she finds a rabbit with an arrow straight through its eye.

She turns around. "Look what-"

She stops when she realizes there's no one there.

Her steps faltering just a little bit, she continues into the woods until Peeta somehow calls her on the anklet, and they head back inside.

* * *

Katniss is all prettied up the next day, and is dressed up in her Mockingjay costume with Peeta dressed in a coordinating uniform. Smoke machines are set up and fake cuts and bruises are plastered over them both.

When the camera starts rolling, perfect-sounding words tumble out of Peeta's mouth, Katniss staying silent by his side.

"Cut!" Plutarch says after a few moments. "Katniss, you need to be the one leading the rebellion, not Peeta." Katniss quickly grasps his message.

_I need to do this. _

She opens her mouth and says the lines she's given, trying to sound angry and passionate. When she's done, the camera is quickly turned off, and Peeta turns to her, his expression unreadable.

Haymitch laughs uncontrollably, and in between his wheezing and coughing, manages to get out, "And that, my friends, is how a revolution dies."

No one contradicts him.

* * *

The next Command meeting, Haymitch had invited Katniss's neighbor back in 12, Leevy, Greasy Sae, along with her prep team and other seemingly random people. Peeta takes a seat next to Katniss at the large table. Coin is at the head of the table, as always, with her lackeys by her side.

"What is one thing that Katniss Everdeen herself has done to make you like her? Not what Peeta did to make her likeable, but what she herself did. At home, in the Arena, anything," Haymitch says to everyone.

It quickly becomes apparent that this meeting is regarding the failing propos.

"She volunteered for Prim at the reaping," Peeta says after a few moments of silence. His statement sets off a flurry of responses.

When she sang to Rue in the first Arena. Trying to help Mags. When she first allied with Rue.

"I cried when she gave Peeta the sleeping syrup to save him," Octavia blurts.

"She drugged the boy to save him. Good, good," Haymitch says, writing something down.

When everything starts to quiet down, Greasy Sae speaks.

"She wasted a year's savings to get the boy some medicine when he sick a year or two back, even though he told 'er not to."

Everyone automatically looks to Peeta, thinking for a moment before realizing she's referring to the cousin. Gale. Katniss feels her heart clench for a split second.

"Now what do all of these things have in common?"

"They were unscripted," Peeta says immediately. "No one told her to do them."

"And that's exactly what we need," Haymitch smiles.

* * *

"Katniss."

"Finnick?"

"Yeah, they let me have lunch with everyone else today," he says, smiling slightly. He puts down his tray next to her and settles himself onto the bench. "I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"For including Annie," he says, and Katniss has to pause for a moment before realizing he's talking about Coin's mockingjay announcement. She watches his eyes cloud up at just saying her name. "You don't know how much it means."

Katniss nods, and they continue eating in silence.

* * *

"We'll be going to a District 8 hospital, and Katniss and Peeta will talk to the patients there. We'll just be filming what you say," Plutarch explains.

That's all he gets to tell her before she's whisked off by her prep team to be scrubbed and dressed, and when she's ready, she's directed to Special Weaponry for a 'surprise', as Fulvia tells her.

"Ah, Katniss," Beetee says once she's arrived, "I've been waiting until I could give you this." His eyes alight, Beetee hands her a case in the shape of a bow, and Katniss opens it to find the most beautiful bow she's ever seen laying on crushed red velvet.

"It's amazing," she says, picking up the curved black weapon. It's lightweight but feels steady in her hands, and -when she stays very still- it feels as if the bow is _living. _

"It recognizes your voice," Beetee says. "They told me what the bow had to look like, which was very plain, I thought, so why not add some extra features?"

He explains how there's different types of arrows in Katniss's quiver, each one distinguishable by a different colored shaft. There's explosive, razor sharp, smoke and others that make the bow a multipurpose weapon. The bow only needs to hear Katniss say "Good night" to deactivate its special properties.

Heavy footsteps come towards Beetee and Katniss.

"We need to go now, Katniss," Peeta says, and Katniss feels tremendously better about herself while holding the bow and getting a small spark of hope from Peeta.

* * *

Enveloped in clouds, their hovercraft makes its way towards District 8. Katniss is strapped into a seat next to Peeta, both of them quiet. Plutarch is on Katniss's other side, trying to explain the war's happenings so far.

Every district except for 2, who has always been favored by the Capitol, is at war with the government. After the Dark Days, District 2 was established as the Capitol's new center of defense, and it supplies weapons, training and even Peacekeepers.

"I thought all Peacekeepers were from the Capitol," Peeta says.

"That's what you're supposed to think," Plutarch replies. "But the Capitol could never sustain a force that large. So we'll take over each district, one by one, ending with 2. That'll cut off the Capitol's supply chain and then we'll invade the Capitol itself. But that's for another time."

He then hands them little purple capsules. "If you're ever captured, the rebels can't afford any more hostages. The pills are called nightlock," Plutarch says, "after the berries."

Katniss and Peeta both take a capsule.

"It goes in that little compartment on your shoulder," Peeta says when Katniss hesitates. Katniss looks her right. The compartment is close enough to her mouth that she can bite it free if she needs to, and rips open easily.

"We're landing now," Plutarch says, just as she's fastened the capsule to her suit.

* * *

"I can't do this," Katniss says to Cressida, the female director of the propo. "I'll be horrible."

Katniss looks at the old warehouse, a roughly painted 'H' at the top. The inside is filled with bloodied and bruised people, ranging from children to the elderly.

"You'll be fine, Katniss. You're hope to them," Peeta says, touching her shoulder. "Just seeing you will help. I doubt you'll even have to talk that much."

Katniss swallows and nods, just as District 8's commander, Paylor, walks up to their little freak show.

"So you're alive, Mockingjay," she says, her limp brown hair framing her stern face. "We weren't sure, although the Capitol broadcast gave us a pretty good idea."

"I wasn't sure either," Katniss replies.

Plutarch leans in. "She had a bad concussion. Miscarriage." As if on cue, Peeta tightly wraps his fingers with Katniss's, and Katniss looks away. "But she insisted on visiting your wounded."

"Well, come on in," Paylor says, eyeing the camera crew. "Just be careful."

"Do not leave my side," Katniss says under her breath to Peeta, and he squeezes her hand in response. They enter the warehouse and are hit with the stench of rotten flesh and the metallic air of blood.

"Katniss? Is that really you?" A young girl with stained bandages reaches out a hand, and Katniss takes it with her free one.

And so the flurry of reassurances and seeing so, so many injured people, begins.

People reach for her, wanting to make sure she's real, while Katniss says mundane things like how are you and good to meet you. Peeta was right. They don't want her words. The sight of the girl on fire itself is inspiration.

Everyone seems genuinely upset when they learn that Katniss lost the baby, and when an old woman begins to weep and recounts when her own daughter miscarried, Katniss wants to tell her that it was all a hoax, but that wouldn't help anyone, would it? And when she's standing on a table, waving goodbye to everyone, Katniss realizes she actually has some sort of power.

* * *

"There's a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"A bombing. Don't let them see you. Intelligence thinks this raid was already planned."

"So they're not targeting me?" Katniss says into her microphone.

"No, they're not. Stay under cover. We can't land the hovercrafts right now."

"What are they targeting then?"

The answers occurs to Katniss just as the words come out of her mouth.

Katniss mouths to Peeta, _cover me, _and his eyes widen.

"Katniss-"

"Katniss!" Haymitch yells. "You'd better not-"

She rips the earpiece out, taking her bow off her shoulders and gripping it tightly as she runs towards the hospital, with Peeta right behind. Everyone's yelling after them, with Bogg's voice coming out on top, and she hears heavy footsteps following them.

"The hospital!" she yells at Peeta. "They're targeting the hospital!"

The first wave of bombs begins, and Katniss instinctively dives into an alleyway. Peeta throws himself over her. She shifts and she finds herself looking right into his blue eyes, his lips slightly parted as he tries to catch his breath. His leg. He can't run.

There's machine gun fire coming from an old warehouse across the alley. Without thinking, Katniss reaches up and briefly presses her lips to Peeta, whose arms grip her even tighter.

"Stay here," she says, and jerks out of Peeta's grip, running across the alley. She hears him scramble to his feet and come towards her, and she pushes herself on, climbing a ladder onto the warehouse. Faster, heavier pairs of footsteps run behind her, and someone manages to grip her leg before she kicks them off and flattens herself onto the roof's surface.

Paylor stands there, manning one of the guns.

"Does Boggs know you're here?" she asks, hardly looking towards Katniss.

"He does, alright," Katniss says, trying to be evasive without flat-out lying. Paylor almost smiles.

"Do you know how to use one of these?"

"I have my bow. It's more deadly than it looks."

Paylor nods briefly. "We expect at least three more waves. They have to drop their sight shields before dropping the bombs. That's our chance. Stay low."

Katniss gets down on one knee, notching a fire arrow.

"Strike!" Paylor yells, just as seven small bombers appear two blocks down in a V formation.

_Like geese, _Katniss thinks.

She shoots her first arrow and misses the planes. Her second and third arrows hit a plane in the middle, when she was aiming for the one before it.

Deciding that the fire arrows are no good, she switches to the explosives. "Positions!" Paylor shouts. The second wave of hoverplanes is already appearing.

_I need Gale. _They always worked better together.

Katniss leads earlier and hits the point plane directly, causing the whole front of it to blow off. She one arrow after the other, hitting two more planes and causing them swerve and crash. They explode into flames on contact with the ground.

A third V formation sweeps in silently, and Katniss keeps shooting, going back to using fire when her explosive arrows run out.

"Has the hospital been hit?" she shouts, once the last of the planes has collided with an empty warehouse.

"Must have," Paylor replies grimly.

Katniss scrambles down another ladder, coming face-to-face with Cressida and a bodyguard.

"I don't care, Plutarch!" she's yelling. "I need five more minutes!" Katniss takes the opportunity and runs across the street, through another alley before arriving at what used to be the hospital.

"Oh," she whispers. The roof has collapsed in flames, and screams are ricocheting inside the building. One or two people have managed to crawl out and are screaming for their loved ones. It reminds Katniss too much of the mines.

She feels a hand on her shoulder, and comes face to face with a flushed Peeta. "Haymitch said they can send in a hovercraft now."

Katniss feels like she can't move.

"President Snow just aired the bombing live." Cressida is speaking from behind her, the sweaty camera crew holding up their cameras. "Would you like to say something to the rebels?"

Katniss turns. "Yes, I would."

A red light turns on one of the cameras, and everyone draws away from her, including Peeta.

"I am alive. I'm right here, in District 8, where the Capitol has just bombed a hospital full of injured men, women, and children. There will be no survivors."

Fury starts to build up in her. "If you think that the Capitol will treat us fairly for even a second, you're deluding yourself, because you know who they are and what they do. Fire is catching!" Katniss waves around at her surroundings. "And if we burn, you burn with us!"

* * *

_(A/N) Tell me what you guys think! Just as another little side note, I'm leaving for vacation soon, and I won't have any internet , so the next update will be in about two to two and a half weeks._


	2. Chapter 2

**And We All Fall Down**

* * *

_**Part II**_

* * *

_"Like memories in cold decay,_

_Transmissions echoing away,_

_Far from the world of you and I." _

_~The Catalyst, Linkin Park_

* * *

IF WE BURN, YOU BURN WITH US.

The words appear onscreen and subsequently catch fire, disintegrating into blackness.

Everyone claps and whoops, and Katniss finds herself joining in, until she realizes that it's probably obnoxious to be clapping since the propo focuses on her. Peeta is clapping from beside her, sitting in a regular chair instead of Katniss's wheelchair. She gets few pats on the back and there are demands to see it again, in response to which Coin gladly presses the replay button on the small remote control in her hands.

The voice of Cladius Templesmith resounds from the screen for the second time, announcing, "Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire, burns on."

A montage of the District Eight bombing fades in, with Katniss's voice used as a narration. "I am alive. I am right here, in District 8-" There are clips of Katniss talking with the injured, standing up on the table to wave good-bye to everyone. "-where the Capitol has just bombed a hospital full of injured men, women, and children. There will be no survivors." Katniss is shown speaking now. "If you think that the Capitol will treat us fairly for even a second, you're deluding yourself, because you know who they are and what they do." The initial bombs are shown falling, Katniss and Peeta running, Katniss pressing her lips against Peeta's, Katniss shooting arrows, Katniss, Katniss, Katniss. The hospital is shown again, dull screams resounding from inside. The Capitol seal on a hovercraft melts back into Katniss, gesturing around at her surroundings. "Fire is catching! And if we burn, you burn with us!"

"Have they aired this in all of Panem?" Peeta asks, looking away from the screen.

"The Districts, yes, but we weren't able to override the Capitol's systems. Beetee's working on it, though," Plutarch replies. He slams his hand on the table, saying, "What about another round of applause for Cressida and her team, and of course, the on-camera talent!"

After the clapping fades out, Coin says, "Yes, well deserved. But I have to question whether you think it's wise to send Katniss into combat."

Send her into combat? So she doesn't know she blatantly disobeyed orders.

"It was a tough call, but we gathered it wouldn't do much good to lock her up in a bunker at every sign of battle," Plutarch replies, brow furrowed.

"And you're okay with that?"

Katniss realizes Coin's talking to her when Peeta kicks her under the table.

"Oh- yeah, well, it felt good to be doing something for a change."

Coin considers her words, finally saying, "We'll have to be extremely cautious about sending her into any kind of combat in the future, understood?"

Everyone but Katniss and Peeta bob their heads in unison.

"What else do you have planned?" Coin says.

Fulvia, who had fallen silent under the praise of Cressida's ideas when her own approach had fallen flat, clears her throat. "I think we could a series of propos called _We Remember_ that each feature a dead tribute, and target the districts with a personal piece. Maybe Finnick could narrate, if he's up for it."

_It's actually a good idea, _Katniss thinks, looking around at everyone nodding.

"That's an excellent idea," Peeta says to her. "Honestly."

Fulvia brightens up, more so when Coin says, "I don't see how can have enough."

Details are discussed and the meeting is adjourned, with Peeta wheeling Katniss back to the hospital afterwards. He sits with her as long as he can and they talk about mundane things, like Buttercup and the atrocious food until the nurses manage to chase him out.

* * *

"Welcome back, Gale."

The propo that had just been airing on the small TV set has now melted into the Capitol seal. Peeta sits beside Katniss in the hospital, both of their lunch trays in front of them.

Katniss's head snaps up and she takes in Gale's image. The last interview was only a week at most ago, but it feels like she hasn't seen him for years. _Thinner, _she thinks, _much, much thinner. _There's a light purple shadow along his jawline that could've easily been covered up with make-up if they chose to. Katniss takes it as a message.

"Thank you, Caesar," he replies in a resigned voice, laced with the faintest trace of bitterness. He sounds washed out, as if he's given up. It's a tone that Katniss has never, ever heard Gale with. Have they messed with his mind? Not-so-carefully whispered conversations in Command have told Katniss that the Capitol has the capability to do so.

"How has your work been going lately?" Caesar continues.

"Work?" Katniss glances at Peeta.

He almost imperceptibly shakes his head. "Katniss, I don't think we should watch this." He reaches for the remote control, biting his lip when Katniss snatches it away.

"Just fantastic," Gale spits out, clearly agitated. "Please, just take me back to my cell so they can force me to design more weapons. Why do we have to do this?"

There's a heartbeat of silence.

"No," Katniss says between clenched teeth. "No, no, _no_."

"I hear one of your designs was used in a recent mission," Caesar says, and he has the nerve to add, "How does that feel?"

"Horrible. Absolutely fucking horrible," Gale says fiercely. "They made me fucking watch my weapons be used against those innocent people, and if I didn't do what they said? They would put me in a room and play my baby sister screaming over and over, my brothers screaming, my mother screaming, my cousins screaming."

Somewhere in the background she hears Snow yell about cutting the live feed.

Katniss slumps in her wheelchair, feeling incredibly sick. Her head and stomach spin at the same time because she knows she knows she knows they're using her against him; driving him crazy using her.

"Although, eventually, that stopped working," Gale continues, leaning forward, "and they made me watch the Games, again and ag-"

The video fades into static.

"Peeta, he's, he's - they're - oh god. Oh god." A sharp ache starts up in the back of her mind.

District 8. The hospital. That was the most recent bombing.

They're crushing him. They're using him and turning him into a monster against his will.

Peeta finally takes the remote out of Katniss's hands, switching off the television. "This was a replay. They never told me about this airing," Peeta says, looking Katniss straight in the eyes.

And so a silent agreement is made not to mention this again.

* * *

Peeta leaves for his kitchen shift, and while he's gone, Katniss is deemed healthy enough to be let out of her wheelchair.

She talks to Finnick, who's back in the hospital for one of his constant relapses, and watches his hands as they tie different knots into a length of rope. Therapy, he had told her, noticing her gaze.

"Did they talk to you about narrating some of the propos?" Katniss asks after a lilt in their conversation.

"Yeah," Finnick says, still working on the rope. It's maddening, watching him. "I said yes. It's a distraction, and it supposedly helps the rebels, so why not?"

"I guess so," Katniss replies, thinking of Gale. Maybe she could use a distraction.

"Would you like some rope?" Finnick asks her, reading her mind.

* * *

In the evening, Peeta comes to the hospital, offering to walk Katniss back up to her compartment when he sees she's not in a wheelchair anymore.

"Sorry I couldn't come by after lunch," he says.

"It's fine, Peeta," Katniss says, with a small, real chuckle. He's so good to her; checking up on her for no reason, watching her back -and yet he apologizes.

She loves him. She knows she loves him now. She's still not sure in what way, though, and she can't bring herself to think too much about it when Gale's with the Capitol.

They arrive in front of her compartment, and there's faint sounds of Buttercup hissing and Prim shushing him coming from inside.

"Goodnight, Peeta," Katniss says, hesitating briefly before hugging him.

She moves to pull her arms away, but Peeta catches her wrists. A heartbeat passes before he leans in quickly and kisses her, mumbling, "Goodnight, Katniss," on her lips. His eyes widen when he pulls away, looking guilty as he says, "I shouldn't have. Sorry." He's off before Katniss can stop him.

Gale comes to her in her dreams as per usual these nights, staring her down before walking straight into fire.

* * *

Katniss sighs at the word _Production _inked on her forearm in the morning. Another full hour of sitting through lengthy discussions about propos; most of which she has little say in, even with her position as the Mockingjay. Katniss tries to see herself through their eyes and figures that they see her as a slightly insane girl of only seventeen; a valuable one at that, but only because of what she inadvertently did.

"We'll be going to District 12 today," Cressida tells Katniss as she walks in. They're already packing up their equipment for the journey.

Katniss stares at her. "No one told-"

"It's your call."

"Count me in."

Peeta arrives just as Katniss is whisked away into the makeshift dressing area in one corner of the room. She stands stiff as her prep team circles her, dabbing make-up under her eyes (just enough to cover the dark circles) and dressing her in clothes that would be considered normal by District 12 standards. When Peeta's dark circles are erased, they're both escorted to the Hangar for the flight, and a message is sent out to both of their families about the trip, stressing that it's nothing dangerous.

Katniss and Peeta are seated next to Plutarch at a table, a map covering the surface in front of them. Plutarch wears a small smile, brimming with satisfaction as he explains the before and after effects of the first few propos being aired. The rebels, who had been scattered, have now rallied together, and have even taken Districts 3 and 11.

"A huge step," Plutarch says, "because they cut off the Capitol's main food supplier. Fulvia will be airing the _We Remember _propos soon."

"They're amazing," Cressida says. "Almost painful to watch. Finnick knew so many of them personally."

"That's what makes it effective," Plutarch replies.

Seeing District 12 a few moments later, all ashes and dust brings a fresh round of pain. Katniss thought she'd come to terms with her district being burned down, having already wandered through the ashes and seen it all up close, but now she wishes she'd just stayed behind like Haymitch did.

They pass through the town first, and Peeta stops at his house, Cressida's camera crew ready to film. "What would you like me to do?" he asks, not taking his eyes off of the ashes.

"Anything," Cressida replies. Always the one ready with words for the cameras, Peeta manages getting out a few anecdotes about time spent in the house, wrestling with his brothers and working in the bakery. Katniss listens intently. She's never heard these stories before, and never asked about his childhood before because she didn't want to bring up memories of his mother and how she hit him; especially now that she's dead.

Katniss holds his hand as he comes towards her with clouded eyes. On instinct, she stretches on her tip-toes and kisses him softly on the lips, just a bit too long to be considered chaste. And she immediately hates herself, because she's leading him on and it's so _wrong_ of her when she doesn't know exactly where she stands. But it's safe in his arms and so she lets him drape one over her shoulder as they walk on.

They enter the Seam, and Katniss sucks in a breath as she catches glimpses of decomposing bodies in her periphery. They pass by the ruins of Gale's house first. The remains look like they've decayed even further, if possible. Even Katniss had managed to bypass it, thinking the pile of dust one over Gale's home, but Cressida had pulled out her map and corrected her.

Katniss stares down at the ashes, not knowing what else to do. Something glimmers among the gray and she experimentally toes the area, her foot coming into contact with something solid. She reaches down and pulls out a twisted metal poker.

"Is there anything you'd like to say?" Cressida asks gently. Katniss shakes her head no and they move on, to Katniss's house, where she's equally useless.

A few minutes later they're trudging across the Meadow, the metal poker now searing hot in Katniss's hands. The whole group is stopped as someone cuts a hole big enough to fit the camera crew through the fence. There's more limp bodies to trip over here; people caught just outside the fence and just inside. Loud footsteps echo in the nearly treeless woods and to Katniss it feels like an invasion. It's bizarre seeing this ragtag bunch of people in here when it was always just her and Gale.

Cressida directs them to the lake, the one Katniss had only ever been to with Gale and her father, and by the time they get there everyone is sweating and the poker has been transferred into a bag; having become much too hot for Katniss to even brush her fingers against. Katniss stays by Peeta's side, his hand feeling alien in hers. She itches to hold her bow.

Katniss kneels by the lake's edge and splashes cool water on her face, wanting nothing more than to jump in and swim into the lake's depths.

Everyone sits underneath the tallest trees they can find, and a container of cheese sandwiches and a box of water bottles makes rounds. Katniss chews silently, sitting towards the edge of the group near an Avox named Pollux. Peeta's talking to Plutarch about something and this way Katniss won't have to say anything.

Katniss glances upwards, seeing a mockingjay perched on the branch above them. Pollux follows her gaze, pointing to the mockingjay pin on Katniss's lapel, his eyes questioning. Katniss nods in confirmation.

"Do you want to hear it sing?" she asks without thinking. The corners of Pollux's lips turn up, and Katniss hesitates for just a moment before whistling the four-note tune Rue had taught her.

The mockingjay looks at her curiously, and then sings the tune right back. Pollux's eyes brighten. To Katniss's surprise, he whistles his own tunes, the mockingjay not hesitating to pick them up and echo them. Soon, there's several more gathered on the branch, and everyone's looking at them curiously.

Pollux uses one finger to write in the dirt.

SING?

Katniss can't really refuse him, and everyone's looking at her, and Rue's image is slowly taking over her mind so she sings the first song she can think of. The Hanging Tree. The mockingjays are eager to sing back to her, and everyone slowly falls quiet, until it's only her and the birds' voices resonating around them.

When she's finished, she hears someone breath, "Amazing."

"I didn't do it for the cameras," Katniss mutters.

"Then we're lucky they were on," Cressida says with a small smile.

Later, Cressida coaxes Katniss into sitting atop the broad rock in her and Gale's meeting place to say a few words about her captured cousin.

"I don't want them to use what I say against him," Katniss says, refusing to say a word about their hunting, as if the Capitol doesn't already know.

"Just a little story, then. Anything."

So Katniss tells the story of how they bought Lady for Prim on one of her birthdays, her expression loosening throughout until she's wearing a small smile by the end of it.

One of their last stops is the disfigured metal that used to be the gallows. When the cameras are pointed at Katniss once again, all she says is, "Stay strong, Gale"; making her voice as steady as it can be and looking directly into the lens.

* * *

Boggs finds her fresh out of a nap in a supply closet the next day.

"There's a meeting in Command," he says. "Disregard your current schedule."

"Already done," Katniss replies. "Why do they need me?"

"They're viewing the propos from Twelve, I think. "

Katniss follows him to Command.

The room is starting to get crowded when she arrives, but Boggs leads her to a saved space in between Finnick and Peeta, with Plutarch on the other side of Finnick. Peeta smiles weakly at Katniss, and she squeezes his hand under the table.

"Aren't we seeing the Twelve propos?" she asks, watching the Capitol seal unfold on the screens in front of them.

"Beetee's trying to break through the Capitol feed to air them. He's working on it right in Special Defense," Finnick says. "President Snow's making an appearance right now, I think." Plutarch focuses on the screens, tapping his fingers impatiently on the table.

Suddenly a close-up of Snow fills the screen, and Katniss's gaze almost flinches away. The camera pans out and she stops breathing for a moment as she sees Gale at the side, seated in an elevated chair by Snow's podium. His cheekbones are more prominent than ever and he looks sleep-deprived, although that is definitely the least of his problems. His eyes are tortured, and Katniss bites her lip, gratefully latching one hand onto Peeta's and the other onto Finnick's.

Gale starts to speak, his tone tired and resigned, sounding more hopeless with each word. He talks about burned buildings, a broken dam in 7, a toxic waste spill in between 4 and 5. Each of the events is attributed to the rebels. He then speaks about successful raids on them and the bombs and death traps that have driven their forces apart.

_All of the weapons designed by Gale himself. _

Snow's eyes gleam at this, but suddenly Gale's image is whisked away from the screen and replaced by Katniss standing in the gallows. "Stay strong, Gale."

The room bursts into cheers.

Gale's image flickers back, looking pained. Katniss is close to cutting off the circulation in Peeta and Finnick's hands. Gale opens his mouth to speak, but is cut off by a clip of Finnick talking about Rue. Her flower-covered body fills the screen, and a broadcast battle ensues. The Capitol tries to fend off Beetee's arsenal of five to ten second clips. They're all carefully chosen from various propos. There's Katniss throwing her arms around Peeta. Finnick talking about one of his tributes.

It's a madness of flashing video and images.

Cheers echo around Katniss and Plutarch has been on his feet for a while now, giddy with delight. Peeta and Finnick are silent by her side. Katniss looks across the room at Haymitch to see the same reaction.

After a few minutes of going back and forth, though, the Capitol seems to regain control, and Snow says something about serving the rebels justice, declaring that this broadcast will be finished at another time.

"Any parting words for your dear cousin, Gale?" Snow asks, his eyes hard and expectant.

"It's rabbit season, Katniss," Gale says slowly. "They'll all be dead by dawn."

Katniss's hands suddenly go limp, and Peeta looks at her in alarm as she inhales sharply.

"Katniss?"

Snow catches what Katniss has already caught moments too late, and he yells, "Cut it off! Cut it!"

Beetee slips in for a second right there, taking advantage of the Capitol techies who are now trying to cut off the feed, and fires still images from the bombing and District 12 at two second intervals. In between, though, they can all clearly hear Gale shouting at someone until his voice abruptly stops, being replaced by a groan and a gut-wrenching thud.

Crimson stains the screen briefly before the broadcast ends for good.

The room erupts into chaos and Katniss presses her face into Peeta's shoulder. One of his arms goes around her and holds her tightly as theories and interpretations of Gale's message fly around the room.

"Shut the hell up!" Haymitch's voice rings through the room, silencing everyone. "Katniss! What was he saying?"

Katniss curls her hands into fists in her lap, straightening herself.

"Rabbit season," she says, her mind whirling. "In the woods, there's these wild dogs. They always go to the rabbits' burrows right after winter and wait for them to come out for food. And then they kill them."

Her words hang in the air for a few heartbeats.

Haymitch slams his hand down on the table. "We're being attacked. Here, in 13. That much should be obvious!"

"How do we trust that's the right meaning of his message ?" someone asks. "How would he have that information?" Quiet murmurs of agreement break out.

"You may not trust him," Katniss says loudly, her voice steely, "but I do. I know him and you don't. And they're- they're beating him right now. What more proof do you want?"

"You should get your people ready," Haymitch says sternly, turning to Coin.

Coin meets this new development with nothing but calm and a slightly perplexed expression. "Of course, we're prepared for such a scenario. Although we have decades of support for the assumption that further direct attacks on Thirteen would be counterproductive to the Capitol's cause. Nuclear missiles would release radiation into the atmosphere, with incalculable environmental results. Even routine bombing could badly damage our military compound, which we know they hope to regain. And, of course, they invite a counterstrike."

Calculating, as always. And in it that moment she reminds Katniss eerily of Snow.

"Good to know," Hamitch says, and apparently sarcasm isn't well understood around here, because Coin looks at him like he just agreed with her.

She types something into her computer. "I'm initiating a Level Five drill. We're overdue for one anyway, and it'll eliminate the risk."

There have been lower level drills before, but none of those could've prepared them for the loud, high-pitched wails now filling up the air. Boggs stands up and guides Katniss, Peeta, and Finnick out of Command and towards a doorwy, that leads to a wide stairway. People are trickling in from all sides, all of them -even the children- looking completely calm. Katniss tries to look around for flashes for blonde and the Hawthornes, but there's people pressing in on her from all sides and she can only see those around her.

They keep moving deeper until Katniss's ears pop. Groups of people peel off slowly and head into marked doorways, but their own little group of four retreats further underground until they're coal mine deep, the sirens fading just a smidge as they move. Someone knocks into Katniss's legs when they've reached a landing and a doorway, and Katniss looks down to see Posy. Her face is tear-stained and Katniss doesn't hesitate to lift the little girl up.

Katniss has to take a deep breath before talking. She just saw this little girl's brother get beat on television while Posy still believes they're looking for him to bring him back. "What's wrong, Pose?" she says, trying to sound as soothing as possible.

Peeta, hearing, the slight tremor in Katniss's voice, jumps in with a smile. "Where are your mom and brothers, Posy?"

Posy hiccups. "They were going into a door- door way. But then people kept pushing me and I lost them."

Katniss is relieved to hear that they made it into the bunkers.

"It's alright, you can stay with Katniss for now. When Prim comes you can play with her," Peeta tells her. Posy nods, brightening at the mention of Prim.

"Okay."

They wave the schedules on their arms in front of some type of scanner, even Posy, to make sure they're all accounted for. Then they enter the cavern, and Boggs tells them to find their assigned areas. E for Compartment E, in Katniss's case. Peeta leans in and presses a kiss between Katniss's eyes before looking for his assigned area that he shares with one of his brothers.

"Can you get word to Hazelle that Posy's safe with me?" Katniss asks Boggs. Hazelle's without a doubt worried out of her mind.

"I will," Bogg replies, and Katniss smiles at him gratefully.

Their area is a twelve by twelve foot space with painted lines on the stone floor marking off their space. There are two bunks in the wall, along with a storage cube. Posy sits on one of the bunks and swings her legs, watching as Katniss reads a piece of paper coated in clear plastic that's taped onto a wall.

1. Make sure all members of your Compartment are accounted for.

Her mother and Prim haven't arrived yet, but Katniss reasons they're probably helping relocate the hospital patients.

2. Go to the Supply Station and secure one pack for each member of your Compartment. Ready your Living Area. Return pack(s).

3. Await further instructions.

"Come on, Pose. We're going on a little trip," Katniss says, and Posy jumps down from the bed to grab Katniss's outstretched hand.

The Supply Station isn't very busy yet, with only a few people lingering by it, so Katniss it's only a few minutes before Katniss has three packs; one on her back and one in her hand, with the third one in a very insistent Posy's hands. _Stubborn, just like her brother, _Katniss thinks, shaking her head. Posy ends up dragging the pack back to the bunk when she can't lift it anymore, but still refuses to give it up.

When Katniss has used the thin mattresses and sheets in the pack to make the beds, put away the gray and white clothes in the storage cube, and sorted out the toothbrushes and toothpaste, she returns the pack and awaits further instructions with Posy. They're playing a hand game that Katniss sometimes played with Prim when she was younger as more and more people come in, claiming supplies and going off into their bunks. Katniss grows more and more worried when her mother and Prim don't show up, and the guards are just about to close the thick metal gates when they burst in, both of them out of breath.

Katniss is just about to ask what they were doing when she notices Buttercup in Prim's hands and a small bag full of belongings in her mother's hands, along with the metal poker from 12.

"You shouldn't have gone back for the cat," Katniss scolds.

Prim has already prepared an explanation. "I couldn't leave him behind, Katniss. Not again."

Katniss sighs, whatever anger she felt melting away when Posy runs up to Prim, hugging her legs and reaching up for Buttercup.

Posy, Prim, and Buttercup all settle into the bottom bunk, Posy playing with Buttercup as Prim holds him. Katniss swears that when Buttercup looks at her his expression is almost triumphant, and she makes at a face at him. Fighting with cats. Katniss Everdeen really is crazy, isn't she? She imagines Plutarch telling her to set an example for everyone else, because she's the Mockingjay, but Katniss couldn't care less when they all assume she's nuts anyway.

Her mother opens the bag she was carrying, which Katniss now realizes is her game bag, and takes out a box that she carefully places in the storage cube. Then she hands the bag to Katniss, who takes out the contents, examining what her mother took during Buttercup's rescue mission.

There's the metal poker, that's now leaning against the storage cube. There's the plant book, Peeta's pearl, her hunting jacket. With a jolt, Katniss immediately brings her hand to her neck, relief washing over her as she realizes the locket Peeta gave her is secure around her neck. She opens it and checks the tiny pictures of her mother and Prim and Gale to see if they're intact.

When she's done organizing her things, Coin's voice cuts the air, stressing that this is not a drill, as Gale Hawthorne, cousin of our very own Mockingjay, has made a reference to a possible attack. Posy perks up at the sound of Gale's name.

"Is he here, Katniss?" she asks, not quite catching what Coin just said. Katniss smiles weakly, and Prim saves her from answering, saying something to Posy that seems to keep her satisfied.

That's when the first bomb strikes. The explosion hits Katniss's core, twisting her organs. Posy whimpers, asking for her mother as she burrows deeper into Prim's side. Prim mumbles to her and electricity then cuts off and little sounds fill the room; a crying baby, a note of hysterical laughter, a cough. Katniss feels around for the bunk and climbs onto it just as a generator turns on, filling the area with dim light. Her mother wraps her arms around a startled Posy.

The intercom turns on again, Coin's voice a shade grimmer than before. "Gale Hawthorne's warning appears to be sound and we owe him a great debt of gratitude. Sensors indicate that this missile was very powerful, but not nuclear. We expect more of the same type to come down."

"Posy?"

Hazelle's voice pierces the sudden quiet, a flashlight illuminating her path.

"I'm here with Prim," Posy calls out. Katniss gets up and holds Posy hand to guide her towards Hazelle.

Hazelle's expression lights up when she sees Posy. "Posy! Didn't I tell you to hold Vick's hand?" The flashlight is handed off to Katniss as Hazelle scoops the little girl into her arms.

"Sorry," Posy mumbles.

"Thank you so much, Katniss," Hazelle says, and then hugs her, Posy caught in the middle.

"It was nothing," Katniss says, meaning every single word. "You would've done the same."

Hazelle nods, adjusting her grip on Posy. Katniss hands her the flashlight. "I was only given clearance to move for a few minutes. We're in thirty-seven if you need anything, sweetie." Katniss almost brings up the metal poker salvaged from their home, quickly realizing that it's not the best idea to walk around with it in dim light. Hazelle turns and leaves, Posy now holding the flashlight for both of them.

Katniss marvels at Hazelle's strength again, glancing subconsciously at her mother who fell apart so easily when Hazelle's still keeping it together.

People are whispering in the dark, and Katniss lays down next to Prim, not having had a real conversation with her in such a long time.

"How are you holding up, Little Duck?" she asks.

Prim turns so she's facing Katniss. "I kind of like it here. I miss 12 sometimes, but then I realize there's nothing to go back to. We have food and safety here, and we don't have to worry about you. Not in the same way, at least." She brightens up then. "They're going to train me to be a doctor."

"Of course they would. They'd be stupid if they didn't," Katniss says, smiling. Prim a doctor. It wasn't even possible in District 12. These are the kinds of things that are possible with a rebellion. A bit of warmth flares up in her at the thought.

"I'm already taking the medic's courses. It's basic stuff, but there's still so much to learn," Prim says. "What about you, Katniss? How are you managing? And please don't tell me you're fine."

Katniss watches Prim stroke Buttercup, and then tells her everything that's been pressing down on her. The rebellion, being the Mockingjay. Gale and the broadcasts, and how they're probably killing him. She even tells her how he's designing weapons for them and how they're slowly killing him. Prim's eyes widen a few times, but she takes it in calmly.

"They won't kill him, Katniss," Prim says, which is exactly what she'd want Katniss to think. But then, to Katniss's surprise, she goes on, "They won't have anything to use against you if they did." Katniss thinks about Posy, Vick, Rory and Hazelle and hopes (and knows) that Prim's right.

All Snow has is Gale. Prim, her mother, Peeta, her home, and Haymitch are either destroyed or out of his reach. Gale is his one weapon against her.

* * *

What will break Katniss?

She thinks about it too much over the next three days, as four more missiles fall over them and they're still stuck underground. There's no urgency to the attack, although the damage upstairs must be great. The missiles are strong, but not designed to penetrate through to them. The Capitol still wants District 13 to keep running. Maybe their main goal was just to distract everyone and keep Katniss's face off their screens.

Everything is run as strictly as ever. There are set times for eating and bathing, along with small periods of social time to keep everyone from growing crazy. Mostly, Buttercup entertains everyone as he chases a flashlight beam around the dimmed room, delighting the kids and making the adults smile. Katniss had only invented the game a long time ago because she thought it made the cat look stupid.

On the third night, Katniss finally ventures far enough into her mind to answer her question. Perhaps all Snow needed was for Katniss to realize what he's doing with Gale. To have the knowledge of it press down on her. And later on, when she can't sleep, this is exactly what starts to make Katniss truly break, and she seeks out the only person who can understand what's going on in her head.

He's tying knots into that rope as always when she sits down next to him.

"This is what they're doing to you with Annie, isn't it?" Katniss says. Finnick looks up.

"So you figured it out," he says dully. "I'm sorry I didn't warn you. It's just, I couldn't exactly understand you. I thought that everything with Peeta was an act on your part, and we expected you to continue that. But then when I revived him in the Arena, I realized you did love him. And I'm not saying in what way, but it was obvious to anyone who looked closely that cared about him."

Katniss looks at him. Anyone? She still hears Snow telling her to convince him.

"There were those jabberjays, though. How I had to hold you back from running off, it was like me with Annie."

Katniss is confused for a second until she remembers Gale's screams coming from those birds' mouths.

"Well, first things first, you need a distraction. Don't let yourself fall apart, Katniss. It takes too long to put yourself back together."

* * *

Coin finally gives everyone clearance to exit the bunkers. A long, single file line stretches from the thick metal doors leading into the area. Many people have to relocated because of damage and several guards stand with clipboards containing their reassignments. After only a few minutes of waiting in line, Boggs pulls Katniss out and she sees that Peeta and Finnick are already waiting by him.

They bypass the line and Boggs leads them into a room that's nearly identical to Command. Coin is already seated there, with Plutarch and Haymitch among others. Everyone looks exhausted and the situation has caused them to break out the coffee. Plutarch holds his cup tightly in his hands while Katniss looks at the black liquid in distaste. She never liked the stuff, but takes a cup with three sugar cubes anyway, hoping it'll help keep her on her feet.

"Everyone needs to prepared and out there in fifteen minutes. You have two hours to show the damage and establish that District 13 is well and fully functional, and that the Mockingjay is alive. Understood?"

Katniss's prep team slaps her Mockingjay outfit onto her, applies minimal make-up to her and arranges her hair in five minutes flat. In another five minutes, they're already outside, breathing in fresh air. Katniss takes it in greedily, allowing herself to realize how much she hated being stuck so far deep underground. As she runs her hands over some leaves, she asks Peeta, "What day do you think it is?"

"The end of August, I think," he replies, and Boggs confirms that, saying that September starts next week. So Gale has been with the Capitol for at least six weeks now.

Katniss breaks off a leaf and watches as it shakes in her hand.

"Are you okay?" Peeta asks softly, watching her. "I can get them to take you back."

"It's fine. Just one little video, right?" she says, trying to slow her breathing.

They pass by the first crater, a pit with a diameter of thirty feet and no visible end. Boggs tells them anyone on the first ten floors would've likely been killed. They walk past two more of these craters before Haymitch asks, "How much of an edge did the boy's warning give you?"

"Ten minutes. Our sensors would've tracked the missiles after that," Boggs replies.

"Did it even help?" Katniss asks, images of Gale being beaten coming to mind.

"Ten minutes means lives saved," Boggs said. "It helped tremendously. Civilian evacuation was completed in that time."

Prim and her own mother were some of the last ones to arrive. Gale probably saved them.

Cressida wants to film in front of the ruins of the old Justice Building, about ten feet away from a new crater. Using the Justice Building is sort of a joke because the Capitol created all of their fake District 13 broadcasts using footage of it. They reach the grand entrance of the area, which is nothing but the stumps of a few pillars, when the sickeningly sweet smell of roses hits Katniss, almost making her bring her coffee right back up.

"Don't! They're for me!" she yells as everyone gets closer to them. Peeta stays behind, slipping an arm around Katniss's shoulder to support her.

"Try to take a deep breath," he says, and Katniss does, not feeling any better. Peeta pulls her into his arms. "We'll be done with this in only a few minutes."

A crew with special suits comes to take the roses away, even though they're harmless; only genetically enhanced to give them their strong smell. Their purpose was to shake Katniss, not to poison her. Cressida gets the cameras in place and Katniss stands directly in front of them, still trembling.

"What exactly should I say?"

"Just a few lines to show you're still alive and fighting," Cressida replies.

"Okay," Katniss says, and stares at the red light. And stares and stares. "Sorry. I can't think of anything," she says lamely, trying to appear sheepish.

Cressida pulls a cloth out of her pocket, blotting at the sweat on Katniss's forehead. "Let's try the Q and A thing, alright?" Katniss nods, and glances at Peeta and Finnick. They both smile at her and Peeta shooting her a thumbs-up. But it's not convincing when Finnick looks shaken up himself.

"You've survived the Capitol bombing of District 13, Katniss. How does this compare with your experiences in 8?" Cressida asks.

"There was no real danger since everyone was evacuated so far underground. Thirteen's alive and fighting and so-" Katniss stops when her voice goes high at the end.

She forces air into her lungs. "Thirteen's alive and well and I am so-"

A million moments in the woods flit through her mind, and she itches to hide in the trees, or curl up in the Meadow.

"Thirteen's alive and so-"

Gale. She needs Gale. The thought hits her so suddenly and with so much force that tears well up in her eyes unexpectedly.

"I can't," she says, her voice choked. "I can't-"

And then she starts crying.

"Cut," Cressida says softly. Plutarch mutters something under his breath.

Peeta immediately goes to Katniss, putting his arms around her and pressing her into his chest as her tears come with more force and she starts sobbing.

"She's figured it out," Finnick says quietly, and there's an almost audible collective sigh from everyone around her. Because she can't unknow Snow's plans. She is finally broken.

She can't take comfort in Peeta or Finnick, and it's Haymitch that she finds herself reaching for. Because them Seam kids, they have something in common, don't they? Haymitch has lost and gained and lost and Katniss has lost and gained and lost. He puts an arm around her, holding her tight and Peeta sits to her side, gripping one of her hands.

"I can't do it anymore!" she says, her voice muffled. "Gale- they're killing him, they're going to kill him. Gale-" Each time she says his name out loud is a fresh pang of pain. And guilt. He told her to run away with him. Why didn't she run with him?

"He's done everything for me, and- and it's all my fault!"

She crosses some invisible line into hysteria and a needle whispers against her arm, offering her blackness.

* * *

It's a full day before she wakes up.

When she does, the first person she sees is Haymitch. There's a moment of blissful confusion until she remembers Gale and starts shaking again.

"It's all right. We're trying to get him out."

"What?"

"There was another broadcast while you were out. Snow said directly that Gale's been designing a lot of their weapons. They have an excuse to organize a rescue mission for him now," Haymitch says, his voice grim. "Plutarch has people on the inside. He thinks he can get Gale out alive."

"Why didn't they get him before?" Katniss asks.

"Like I said, now they have an excuse. It's a costly mission," Haymitch says.

"How?"

"Covers are blown, people die. But they die everyday. And they're getting out Annie for Finnick, too. Boggs is leading. Volunteers only."

Katniss gets a sick feeling. "Did Peeta-"

"He tried. They wouldn't let him. He's too valuable to the Capitol to be put out there like that."

Katniss takes in a breath.

"I have to help somehow."

"The team's already gone."

"There has to be something else."

"I'll tell you when I think of something, sweetheart."

Peeta walks in then, holding a breakfast tray for Katniss. "You're up," he says quietly, setting down the meal. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Trying to think of a way to help," she replies, agitated.

"They still need post-bombing footage of 13," he tells her. "Coin wanted me to do it, as a decoy of sorts, but since-"

"Let's go," Katniss says. She stuffs her breakfast into her mouth, thinking of what to say. Snow will want to see her broken, so she'll have to be strong. And stories are better than a few defiant lines. More time consuming.

They all assemble above ground. Katniss whispers her plan to Peeta who gives her an encouraging nod. Peeta talks to Cressida. The red light switches on.

"How did you meet Peeta, Katniss?" This step is important, because without it, people would doubt her love for Peeta. When blowing covers, it's best to do it slowly.

Katniss talks about that time she was stuck in the rain, trying to sell baby clothes. How she sat under a tree outside the bakery and Peeta threw her that bread and saved her life. Peeta's looking at her intently.

"We never talked before or after that, but it was the first we met. We only spoke on the train to the first Games," Katniss says.

"But Peeta was already in love with you?" Cressida asks.

Katniss's heart lurches when she meets Peeta's eyes after that. He'll love her unconditionally. Always. And she doesn't deserve that. "I guess he was," she says.

"And you love him," Cressida continues.

Katniss doesn't hesitate at all to answer, because it's the truth, "Yes. Of course I do."

"Now, Katniss, I understand you met Gale Hawthorne not too long after that."

"We met when I was twelve and he was fourteen," Katniss says, nodding. "We're not cousins." She lets the statement sink in because it's probably a shock to the Capitol people. "But it's as if we are, because we and our families are so close."

She then talks about hunting in the woods and walks them through moments in their lives that she's never told anybody about. When she first took him to the lake, the time she twisted her knee, when her hair got caught in one of his snares. They go right up until the 74th Hunger Games when Katniss says, "And that's when everything with Peeta started again. And we became the star-crossed lovers of District 12."

"How are you dealing with your best friend being taken by the Capitol?"

"Not well. I know at any moment Snow could kill him. Especially since he warned Thirteen about the bombing. It's hard," she says. "But because of what they're putting him through, I don't have any reservations anymore. About destroying the Capitol. President Snow once told me himself that the Capitol is fragile. I didn't know what he meant. It was hard to see clearly because I was so afraid, but now I'm not. The Capitol's fragile because it depends on the districts, on us, for everything. Food, money, and even the Peacekeepers. If we declare our freedom, the Capitol collapses. President Snow, thanks to you, I'm officially declaring mine today."

The cameras stop rolling and everyone disperses to edit and put together the material. Finnick wakes up when Katniss and Peeta are back inside. They head down to Special Defense to spend time, watching the techies try to take over the Capitol broadcast. It's a battle, again, between Katniss's interview and the usual afternoon fare in the Capitol. The interview has been edited down so that it mostly focuses on Peeta and Katniss's relationship and the revelation of Katniss and Gale not being cousins. When the last lines are said, Beetee backs away from his screen, saying, "If they're not out of there yet, they're probably dead by now."

It doesn't make them feel any less restless.

"It was a good plan, though," Beetee sighs, taking them into another room, where he explains how the team has attempted to free the prisoners from an underground prison. It involves an important building being blown up, a power outage, and knockout gas. It's good that they're unable to follow along with the plan, Beetee says, because then the enemies won't be able to, either.

Peeta stays with Katniss and Finnick as they try to position themselves in Command, but are ushered out because there's important war business going on. Defeated, they head back into Special Defense, tying knots into their ropes until their fingers bleed.

"Gale," Katniss mumbles to herself. Gale, Gale, Gale. By the end of the day, he'll either be dead or down here with her.

Peeta drifts off to do small chores around the kitchen or wherever else he can, because that's the way he operates. Keeping himself busy with helping others to distract himself. 'The Hanging Tree' plays through Katniss's mind as she perfects a miniature noose.

"Was it love at first sight for you with Annie?" she asks Finnick.

"She crept up on me," Finnick answers.

Katniss decides that the answer doesn't help her very much.

_Gale, Gale, Gale, Gale. _

After what has to be forever, Haymitch bursts through the door. "They're back and we're wanted in the hospital. That's all I know."

Katniss's heart clenches and unclenches as she takes an immobile Finnick's hand and guides him through the halls and towards the hospital wing.

The place is in chaos, with doctors shouting and nurses carrying supplies to and fro. Two people carrying a gurney pass by, and Katniss looks at the figure on it to see Johanna Mason. Her flesh is bruised and scabbed and she has a shaved head. She knew rebel secrets, unlike Gale.

"Finnick!"

Annie, a pretty woman with green eyes and golden brown hair, runs towards Finnick and he envelopes her into his arms, pressing kisses all over her hair, her forehead. They cling to each other, and it's as if the world has only shrunk to them.

Boggs approaches Katniss and Haymitch, looking a bit battered, but with no severe injuries. "Everyone was gotten out except for Enobaria. Being from 2, though, I doubt we should worry about her." His gaze turns solely to Katniss. "He's just waking up from the effects of the gas. He's down there," he says, pointing somewhere along the hall.

Katniss's face breaks into a grin for the first time in forever. "Gale," she says, feeling giddy.

"Go on, then," Haymitch says, a small smile playing on his lips.

There's a trio of doctor's surrounding him, but it's him and he's _alive. _Katniss doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. He's stripped to the waist and the nurses are treating a long, shallow cut from his collarbone to his abdomen, but it's better than him being dead somewhere dark. Katniss waits for him to see her, and when he does, his eyes widen and he tries to sit up.

"Catnip?"

Katniss makes a strange, hysterical-sounding noise somewhere in between a laugh and scream. He sweeps his arms to the side, sitting up just as the nurses put gauze on his cut. He walks towards her and she walks towards him and suddenly she's pressed against him and she's crying again, but it's okay, because he's alive.

"Gale," she breaths against his chest, holding him more tightly as if he'll fall apart without the barrier of her arms. He plasters kisses all over her hair and pulls back to press one between her eyes. They stare at each for a moment before Katniss impulsively leans up and kisses him full on the lips, feeling that insatiable hunger she only felt once before. Her knees weaken as Gale's hand trails down from her sides to her waist, then the small of her back before they separate.

"I-"

And she's this close to saying it, but her deeply ingrained fear still holds her back and she closes her mouth, burying her face in his chest again. He strokes her hair and they stand like that for a long, long time, Katniss feeling the a spark of true happiness for the first time in a such a long time.

Then suddenly, Posy's running towards them, shrieking, "You found him, Katniss!" She's trailed by the rest of her family, who attack Gale, and it's almost perfect.

* * *

XOX

* * *

**_(A/N) I now realize that when people say that high school is extremely hard, they're not kidding. I haven't had a break in a long time, and I'm so sorry for this extremely, extremely late update. This is probably filled with clumsy mistakes, but I wanted to get this up ASAP, so sorry about those too._**

**_ There are some lines that are directly taken from the book (mainly the interview with Katniss where she talks about President Snow). They are not mine, and I do not claim them to be mine. _**


End file.
